The
US Navy awarded a $15.5 million system development contract to Raytheon
Company to develop a flexible, application-based architecture (ABA)
for the P-8A
Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. The ABA will allow mission
commanders to rapidly field new or enhanced capabilities through third-party
software applications.

P-8A Poseidon during Harpoon release testing. Picture: US Navy

Raytheon's
ABA design aligns with both the Department of Defense's "Better
Buying Power Initiatives" and the Navy's move towards open system
architecture.

"The goal is to use readily available technology to quickly upgrade
the P-8A's warfighting capability," said Jerry Powlen, Raytheon
Space and Airborne Systems' vice president of Intelligence, Surveillance
and Reconnaissance Systems.

"This open systems architecture can easily be used for other domestic
and international customers looking to affordably enhance their airborne
platforms," Powlen said.

The work will be performed in McKinney, Texas, and completed by March
2017. The contract positions Raytheon for the engineering and manufacturing
development phase scheduled for 2017.

"Raytheon is uniquely qualified to bring enhanced mission capability
to the Poseidon platform thanks to decades of experience and our partnership
with the Navy on advanced electro-optical, infrared and RF sensors for
many maritime and overland surveillance platforms," Powlen said.